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The City
New Orleans has a relatively small population, with about 1 million in its Urban area. Yet this city supports more than 40 Camarilla vampires, and perhaps 25 more non-Camarilla vampires. By Camarilla standards, the city is grossly overpopulated. During the Mardi Gras season, even more vampires flock to the city for a couple weeks or so, straining the city's resources as well as the masquerade, before moving on. As a result, the city has a reputation for vampirism, even amongst mortals. Under Acou's rule there were only minimal laws governing vampiric breeding, so there was little to control the population. Yet there are several forces hunting vampires (including some other vampires), and many younger ones die before long. It is as if natural pressures keep the vampiric population down. Court *'The Prince: 'Alejandro *'Senechal: 'Celeste *'Keeper of Elysium: 'Marisol *'Sheriff: 'Lawrence *'Castellan: 'Harlequin Primogen Council *'Brujah: Annie' *'Malkavian: 'Tinker *'Nosferatu: 'Virginia *'Toreador: 'Bran *'Tremere: 'Emyl *'Ventrue: 'Wilfred Elysium *1 Jackson Square *2 St Louis Cathedral *3 The Twilight Club *4 Muriel's Bistro *5 Audubon Aquarium Other Places *6 The Sheriff's Office *7 The Factory *8 Lafayette Cemetary *9 Pair O Dice Tattoo Parlor *10 Madame Zora's House of Cards *11 Sunbelt Genetics *12 Audubon Zoo *13 Uriah's Shack *14 S-Mart *15 Abundant Light Ministries *16 The Abbey The Big Easy COLONIAL ERA The first vampire, Alejandro Ruiz-Castillano, arrived in New Orleans of French Louisiana in 1727, fleeing enemies in Spain. Alejandro had been allied with the Sabbat, but no longer wanted anything to do with the Sect. The Sabbat sent some Assamites to New Orleans after Alejandro, but he was able to fake his own death, evading pursuit. Thereafter, Alejandro struggled to keep his existence a secret. Alejandro spent the next 50 years or so fighting against the natives, and keeping the colony alive. At the same time, he didn't want the city to become too organized and efficient. The city's reputation for loose morals and criminal activities enabled Alejandro to feed in the small town without too much difficulty. Alejandro weathered the transfer to Spain in 1766 well. Initially, he feared it was a move by his European enemies, but apparently he had been forgotten. No other vampires came to New Orleans until 1781, when Maria and Annabelle, two powerful Toreadors, passed through the city on their way to the United States. With Maria's powerful Auspex, they found Alejandro easily, much to his chagrin. Still, he had been without vampiric society for more than half a century, and was starved for company. He "allowed" them to stay as his guest. Maria and Annabelle organized the first opera in the city, and Alejandro was content. It was not to last, however. In 1784, Maria became attracted to a talented free Mulatto pianist, Accou. Alejandro was fearful and jealous. He thought that if Maria embraced Accou, the careful secrecy he had worked to maintain would collapse. To prevent this, he had several street toughs rough up Accou, breaking his hands. This served only to press Maria on, and she asked Annabelle to embrace Accou at once. Alejandro was furious, and insisted all of them leave immediately. Rather than risk a confrontation in the tiny frontier town, the Toreadors left. Soon after, Accou parted ways with his white mentors, unable to maintain the same society as them. He made his way to the free black communities of Cuba, but nursed his hatred of Alejandro, and a desire to return to his home. In New Orleans, there was another reaction to the vampire's activities. Father Antonio de Sedella, hearing rumors of dark secrets in the city, arrived from Spain in 1788. He spoke to the Spanish governor Miro about establishing the Inquisition. Miro's response was to have him deported. Sedella was not discouraged, and returned in 1790, this time as a "simple priest". He made himself popular with the common people, while secretly trying to root out Alejandro. Neither of them was able to do much against the other; Alejandro was too powerful, and Sedella was too much in the public eye. Sedella established a secret society, the Order of Saint George, as an outpost of the Inquisition that would continue his fight after his death. AMERICAN RULE UP TO THE CIVIL WAR When Louisiana was sold to the United Stated in 1803, Alejandro realized he could no longer evade interaction with other vampires. He sent communications to the Camarilla forces in the process of overrunning the nation, and helped eliminate fleeing Sabbat. He gave tentative invitations to anyone willing to acknowledge him as prince. The population of the city grew at a phenomenal rate, and the first vampires arrived in the 1820's. The areas outside of the city were not safe. There were many nomadic Sabbat packs, who were mysteriously able to avoid the Lupines of the wilderness. The most powerful of these packs was led by John A. Murrell. Murrell was engaged in an elaborate plot to incite a black uprising in the 1830's, to destroy Camarilla vampires and a extend the Sabbat territory from Mexico to Louisiana.. The uprising failed, and many of his followers were killed, but Murrell escaped. Because of the Sabbat, the Camarilla vampires stuck close to the city. To help control the new vampires, Alejandro embraced Francesca Thierry, his first progeny. Generally, he was high handed in his dealings with other vampires, but controlled too many mortal institutions for any serious opposition to develop. In other words, he was a typical prince. In 1855, Accou secretly returned to New Orleans. He began to develop support amongst the other vampires in the city. With the help of the Brujah Annie, Accou built up his contacts in amongst the local black community. Accou's greatest efforts were directed at Alejandro's get, Francesca. Accou felt that if he could get this Ventrue to turn against her sire, he would have won the battle before the war had begun. Alejandro's actions during the civil war set the stage. Rather than take sides in the war between the north and south, Alejandro allowed New Orleans to be captured early in the war. In this way, he could sit things out, neutral, and then deal with however won the war. This angered vampires on both sides of the conflict, and any support Alejandro had fell away. THE REVOLUTION AND RECONSTRUCTION Alejandro remained prince through the war, but in 1870 his opponents made their move. The government of Louisiana was in disarray due to reconstruction, and the newly freed blacks of the state gained sudden influence. This enabled Annie and Accou to undermine Alejandro's mortal support. Francesca, who could see which way the wind was blowing, agreed to stay out of the fight. With his power structure in shambles, Alejandro was easier to find, and his haven was burnt to the ground in 1871. All that remained was for Accou to deal with his erstwhile allies. Annie's biggest source of power in the black community was the infamous Voudou queen Marie Laveau, who had been Annie's ghoul since 1837. Accou secretly encouraged a Tremere from Atlanta, who found Marie's power too much to pass up. This Tremere, Bristol, embraced Marie in 1889, and the Brujah made ready for war. Just when things seemed about to go too far, Accou stepped in to mediate. Accou got Marie and Bristol to agree to leave the Voudou and black communities alone, and Annie called off her war. It was already to late for the Brujah, though. The Voudou community split into dozens of small groups without Marie's leadership. Reconstruction was already ending, and along with it all black influence in politics. Accou was ready to pick up new pawns, but Annie was not. The Brujah's influence waned, while Accou was officially acknowledge prince. Still, his treatment of Annie during this period was so charming that it wasn't until decades later that she suspected he had a hand in her fall. Under Accou and the Toreador, New Orleans became a city of Art and Beauty of all kinds. Opera and Jazz flourished side by side, and New Orleans became famous for its parties and wild affairs, especially Mardi Gras. Unfortunately, Accou only wanted to oust Alejandro, and had little flair for ruling himself. Slowly control of the city slipped from his undead hands. THE SLAYINGS During all time, Sedella's Inquisitors had been watching vampiric society from afar. They were aware of the power of their enemy, and did not want to attack until they were certain they could destroy all the vampires in the city. At last they found a champion. The brilliant Nathaniel Bordruff, a minister of the Church of Christ, was perhaps the greatest vampire hunter they had ever trained. The Inquisition felt that with his leadership, they could at last wipe the vampiric scourge from New Orleans. Nearly every clan lost at least one kin. Accou was enraged at Bordruff's activities, but was unable to track him. The Order of St. George was unknown to the kindred of the city after the death of Alejandro. Marie Laveau saw an opportunity in the killings. She chafed at the cold Hermetic rule of her sire, Bristol, and plotted his demise. Marie left evidence leading to Bristol's haven for Bordruff to find, and weakened the protective wards there. Once Bordruff slew her sire, Marie went screaming to Accou for justice. It was the Nosferatu elder Virginia who finally caught Bordruff. With Marie's help, she lured Bordruff out into the Bayou, away from his allies. Virginia suspected foul play on the part of both Marie and Accou, however, and made plans of her own. Rather than killing Bordruff, she embraced him. Accou agreed that Bordruff was neutralized, and saw poetic justice in Virginia's act. Besides, he could not act directly against the hero that had saved the vampire community from a threat that he had done nothing to stop. Marie fumed, but did nothing, afraid of what Virginia may have discovered. Accou drove Bordruff from the city. Bordruff continued hunting elsewhere for a time, but eventually gave it up and drifted to Chicago. HUEY LONG AND THE "NEW PRINCE" After the vampire slayings, Accou's popularity was at low ebb. Many of the older vampires were growing hostile. Furthermore, there were political changes that bode ill for Accou's Democratic political machine. A populist governor swept the state, and began to look like he might sweep the nation. Huey Long appealed to the common man, not only making promises to improve their lives, but keeping those promises as well. Accou's old politicians were limited to the city of New Orleans, and were losing ground there as well. Accou couldn't tell who, if anyone, was backing Long, but it took all of Accou's time to simply hold onto power. Accou began to question whether or not he even want the princedom. He no longer had time to devote to his arts and entertainment. Clearly there were others after the Princedom, and Accou didn't want to share Alejandro's fate. After all, new princes could rarely afford to leave an old prince alive. Suddenly, Accou's situation altered radically. In 1934, Accou began saying he was not actually the prince, but was rather the Lieutenant of the true Prince. Yet the new prince was unwilling to present himself, and Accou was left to enact his policies. The Malkavians loved it, and the other city elders hesitated. Most of them thought it was a ridiculous ploy on the part of Accou, but they decided to watch and wait, just in case. Accou could devote his time to artistic pursuits, and the city drifted, leaderless. The situation persisted for a decade. Long was assassinated, and his movement floundered. The Masquerade began to stretch, and Anarchs flowed into the city, interested in its "lawless" state. The Camarilla hounded Accou, but he would only say he had to obey the dictates of the true prince. By the time the elders decided to act, the city was too unstable for any of them to take direct action. None of them were sure which way the Anarchs would turn, and none could stage a coup without breaking the Masquerade. The strangest part of the affair is that while things seemed chaotic, nothing truly disastrous would happen. A neonate would overstep her bounds by creating a large brood, and then the neonate and all her progeny would vanish. A vampire skirting close to the edge of the Masquerade would undergo mysterious attacks until he desisted or was slain. No one was certain who was carrying out these policies, but the elders were convinced it was Accou. The truth was stranger still. Initially, the entire "true Prince" story was a ploy on the part of Accou to gain time. Unknown to Accou, however, Alejandro had risen from a long torpor in 1928, and was behind many of Accou's recent problems. Alejandro saw through Accou's ploy immediately, but decided to take advantage of it. In 1938, he caught Accou unaware, and battered down his mental defenses. From that time forward, Alejandro was dominating Accou, and was the true power behind the prince. THE ANARCH WARS Neither Accou or Alejandro were motivated to alleviate the city's chaos, for fear that another elder would then stage a coup. Thus, the city continued on its strange course. Many vampires embraced in the 40's didn't know better, and assumed Accou's story of being the prince's Lieutenant was true. The elders from before that time believed it was all a game, but feared it was too dangerous to call his bluff. In many areas, vampires could do as they pleased, but there were limits. No one could create more than one progeny without attracting the attention of others. No one could kill other kindred without retaliation. A group of Ancillae vampires called the Krewe of Janus chose to make it their job to protect the Masquerade. The kindred of the city learned these tacit rules, sometimes the hard way. Accou and Alejandro enforced these laws, usually through pawns and double blinds. The city worked, but the situation was intolerable to the Inner Circle of the Camarilla. After numerous missives to the "prince" of the city were simply ignored, the Camarilla sent the current Gangrel Justicar Alexis to New Orleans in 1960 to restore order. Alexis quickly alienated all the local vampires with his high handedness. At the same time Anarchs from the California Free States were flowing east to spread their movement, and New Orleans was one of their targets. The local vampires played the Anarchs and the Justicar against one another, and quickly there was war in the streets. Alexis was too occupied with Anarchs to pursue the prince. The Anarchs and Alexis were dead-locked for several years. The city elders worked behind the scenes to make certain no side would gain the advantage, and protected their own holdings. Finally Alexis withdrew in disgust, for there were more important things for him to deal with elsewhere. After he left, the elder stepped in, dropped their support of and subdued the battered Anarchs, and things returned to "normal". RECENT EVENTS After Alexis, the Camarilla let New Orleans be. The elders of the city played a dangerous game. The city's lack of direction made for fractious politics. The elders worked quietly with schemes within schemes. Younger vampires were only peripherally aware of these struggles, and were often used as pawns. They believed New Orleans was a city of great freedom, and the "prince" would only act against the direst of crimes. This carefree attitude gained the city a reputation as a vampire city even amongst mortals. To deal with this situation, the elders agreed to a wild scheme by the Malkavian elder, Claire. She dominated a local author to write a series of stories about Vampires, set in New Orleans. The books became successful, and had the same effect for New Orleans as the book Dracula had for Vlad Tepes. New Orleans kept its vampire mystique, but mortals attributed it to the books, and didn't take it seriously. Since the Anarch Wars, it seems that there has been a higher presence of Setites in the city than there has been in the past. Before, a Snake would appear periodically, to be ruthlessly wiped out by the elders. Lately, the Setites are appearing in greater numbers, and some of the younger vampires are engaged in active warfare with the Snakes. The local Gangrel have always been somewhat environmentally conscious. Of late, some of them have become appalled at the level of pollution in Louisiana. Things have gotten so bad that the area north of New Orleans is called Cancer Alley. A few of the Gangrel have begun to take direct action against polluters. The things they are encountering are rather strange. In 1985, Raymond Wallace, a young ghoul, managed to kill Francesca, the Ventrue clanhead. With the help of the Anarchs, Wallace escaped. This threw the Ventrue clan into disarray. The Anarch gang called the Lost Angels helped Raymond, escape, and the Ventrue retaliated by killing their leader. Since then, the Ventrue have bickered amongst themselves for leadership of the clan, while the Angels regrouped and nursed their grudge. In 2010 things came to a head and Alejandro returned to the spotlight, openly seizing Praxis. Granting a sizable chunk of the Big Easy to the Anarchs and assigning an official Primogen, he went about making changes that many perhaps were not ready for. Kindred Speech ;Creole : :A Toreador or Ventrue, particularly an elder, many of whom were Creoles in life. ;Gris-gris : :A generic term for spells, talismans, and amulets. Kindred may encounter many more kinds of magic than humans often do, but since the Tremere in this city are mostly former Voudouns, the term is often appropriate. ;Houngan : :A Voudoun with power. Used indiscriminately of gender. ;Kaintuck : :A Gangrel, Brujah or Caitiff, rarely Nosferatu. The term was first used by (mortal) Creoles as a generic term for the American flatboat crews who plied the Mississippi before steamboats came about. The Kaintucks were notorious for being brutish, crude, obnoxious, and violent, and the Creole Kindred thought it a fitting term for the Gangrel and Brujah. The term has filtered into the common parlance, and some of the Kaintucks themselves use it proudly. ;The Krewe of Janus : :The Krewe of Janus, an organisation of Masquerade police. In keeping with mortal krewe traditions, they keep their membership a secret. Although any vampire who has a good grasp of the city's population can easily figure out who is in The Krewe and who isn't, many of the young Kindred, especially the Anarchs, have not yet had the chance to find out. Many weird rumors fly about The Krewe, and to the Anarchs it often seems like half-bogeyman, half-Big Brother. ;'tite krewe, or Krewe : :A coterie. ;Loup-garou : :Lupine. (the plural form is loup-garoux.) Oddly, few if any of the city's Kindred are aware how close this word comes to the Lupine's own name for themselves. ;Mosquito : :A Caitiff. (They're little, annoying, and they suck blood, right?) ;Storyville : :The Rack. Storyville was New Orleans' famed quasi-legal red-light district, closed down by an officer of the Navy in 1917. It was the birthplace of jazz and, of course, a major hunting ground for the elders of New Orleans, who got into the habit of using the name and kept it after Storyville closed down. It trickled down through the ancillae and into general Kindred usage. ;Vieux Carre : :Elysium. Actually the word is another name for the French Quarter. The buildings along Jackson Square, plus certain others, are Elysium. Vulgar argot :;Cottonmouth :: ::A Setite :;Crashing the party :: ::Hunting along Bourbon Street, which is the exclusive preserve of the elders. :;Crawfish :: ::Kindred who spend a lot of time in the bayous, where it is assumed they must sleep in the mud. Gangrel and Nosferatu. :;Hoodoo :: ::Weird magic, supposed wierd magic, strange and mysterious occurrences. Not to be confused with Voodoo or Voudoun; hoodoo is a generic term, while Voudou is a specific religion and magic system. :;Lestats :: ::Blood Dolls and other vampire wannabes. :;Loops :: ::Lupines. :;Ol' Muddy :: ::The Mississippi River. :;Praline :: ::A particularly tasty, attractive, or alcoholic Vessel. :;Rex :: ::The Shadow Prince. :;Ricers :: ::Blood Dolls and other vampire wannabes.